Spinning and similar machine



March 4, 1941. R. E. NORTHWAY SPINNING AND SIMILAR MACHINE Filed Oct. 12, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 1941. R. E. NORTHWAY SPINNING AND SIMILAR MACHINE 2' Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 12, 1939 INVENTOR.

H// r /l////I//A ATTORNEY. I

Patented Mar. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES SPINNING AND SIMILAR MACHINE Ralph E. Northway, Saco, Maine, assignor to Saco-Lowell Shops, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Maine Application October 12, 1939, Serial No. 289,121

6 Claims.

This invention relates to spinning, twisting and roving frames, and more especially to the drawing mechanisms used in such machines. For convenience these machines will hereinafter be referred to generically as spinning frames.

The drawing mechanisms used in machines of this character comprise a series of upper and lower drawing rolls through which the sliver, roving, or other fibrous strands to be operated upon are fed in approximately parallel relationship to the fiyer, traveller, or other spinning and twisting instrumentalities. The lower rolls are positively driven from gearing located at one end of the framaand they extend the entire length of the machine, which may be a distance of perhaps fifty or sixty feet. The upper rolls consist of very short elements each, usually containing only two bosses or fiber working areas, and they rest directly upon their respective lower rolls and are driven by their contact with them.

It has long been the established practice to make the lower rolls in sections of convenient lengths for manufacturing operations and to connect these sections rigidly together, end to end, so that a lower roll functions exactly as though it were made in a single integral piece.

When such a machine is assembled the roll stands in which the lower rollsare mounted are aligned accurately. But after the machine has been in operation for a time it will be found that the roll stands no longer are in alignment and that the rolls which they support are chafing and binding in places because of this abnormal running condition. It then becomes necessary to realign the bearings.

With a view to overcoming this difliculty it has recently been proposed to make these lower rolls in sections of a different construction from those heretofore employed, to support each section in its own bearing, and to connect the sections flexibly end to end in such a manner that they will function in the usual way but will accommodate the misalignment which inevitably occurs during operation. Such an organization represents an important advancein this art and is of advantage alike to the machine manufacturer'and the user.

The present invention aims further to improve and develop drawing mechanisms of this type.

In operating spinning frames equipped with drawing mechanisms of the improved character just mentioned, the lubrication of the joint structures connecting the roll sections to. each other and of the adjacent journal portions of these sections, is important to the smooth opera- To devise a satisfactory and thoroughly prac- 10 tical solution for the problem presented by these conditions forms the chief object of this invenvention.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when 15 read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a roll stand constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the stand shown in Fig. 1 but showing it in its operative condition;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view approximately on the line 33, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view of the bottom of the pedestal or base of the stand shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 5 is a bottom View of the cap for the roll stand;

Fig. 6 is a vertical, sectional view of an insert in the base of the stand;

Fig. 7 is an end view of one of the bearing bushings shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 88, Fig. '7.

An important feature of this invention resides in the novel roll stand shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Referring to these figures it will be seen that the stand comprises a body portion 2 and a base or pedestal section 3, these two elements preferably forming an integral structure which may conveniently be produced by the die casting method. In the upper edge of the body portion 2 a series of recesses or sockets 4, 5 and 6, respectively, are formed to receive bearing bushings l, 8 and 9 for supporting the front, middle, and rear lower rolls H), H and 12, respectively. As above indicated, each of these rolls is made in sections joined together end to end with the end portions of ad' joining sections supported in the roll stand. A preferred arrangement is shown in Fig. 3 in which the two sections a and b of the front roll III are supported in the roll stand with their journal portions 0 and d, respectively, resting in the bearing surfaces 6 and f of the bushing 1. A

joint structure flexibly connects these two sections and includes a disk or key [4 provided with tangs g and h projecting from opposite facesthereof and fitting into grooves or keyways formed in the opposed end faces of the two sections a and b. The tangs are located at right angles to each other so that this construction effectively transmits torque from one section to the other while the joint accommodates a substantial degree of misalignment of adjoining sections.

The same or an equivalent joint structure is used in each of the other bearings in the stand and similar stands are provided throughout the machine to support, in the same manner, adjacent ends of adjoining sections. Thus these lower rolls can be driven from gearing located at one end of the frame in the usual way.

' Referring to Fig. 3 it will be evident that good running conditions require the application of oil or equivalent lubricant to the journal surfaces e and f and that the free functioning of the joint and particularly of the key M requires the application of lubricant to its friction surfaces. Also for the reasons above pointed out, it is essential that the lubricant be supplied very sparingly so that it will not work on toexposed surfaces of the rolls where it will collect lint or find its way on to the fiber working bosses of the rolls. Moreover, it is important that such lubrication be automatic.

I have succeeded in realizing these objectives by making the bushings 1, 8 and 9 of porous metal and feeding oil, under control, to them. Porous bearing metals suitable for this purpose are available, a satisfactory metal being that known commercially as Oilite. The pores in this material are very small so that a solid body of it acts as an effective barrier to any substantial flow of oil through it. At the same time it will transmit oil solely by capillarity. The invention makes 'use of this characteristic. As shown, the bushings 1, 8 and 9 are provided with tongues or extensions extending downwardly therefrom between the bearing surfaces e and f. The bushings themselves fit snugly into the sockets provided for them in the body of the stand while the parts 7' project through a vertical slot I5, Fig. 1, formed centrally in the stand and preferably of considerable depth, its general form being indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Consequently, this slot forms a well or reservoir adapted to hold an ample body of oil. One or more wicks I 6, threaded through holes in the parts 7', conduct oil by capillarity, and consequently at a very restricted rate, to the bushings where they, in turn,'feed it by capillarity to the journal surfaces 0 and d and to the enlarged heads on the ends of the rolls. From the latter a sufficient supply is transferred to the key M to lubricate it. Oil may be introduced into the well [5 through a hole l1, Fig. 1, normally closed by the screw Hi.

This arrangement provides an eflicient, controlled lubrication of the journal surfaces of the sockets 2|, Fig. 1, this cover being shaped to fit snugly around the journal surfaces of the roll sections and to rest on the intervening portions of the roll stand so that it protects practically all of the surfaces carrying lubricant from dust and lint. This cover is made very thin in vertical dimensions so that it does not interfere with the top rolls or their contact with the fluted surfaces of the lower rolls.

In order to fasten the stand to the frame a screw-threaded socket 22, Figs. 2 and 6, of hexagonal or other flat-sided section may be embedded in the base 3 during the casting operation, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, where it will afford a secure anchorage for a screw to hold the base against the frame top.

It will be evident from the foregoing that the invention provides a novel and improved mounting for the lower drawing rolls of a spinning frame in which satisfactory lubricating conditions are maintained practically continuously,

without attention on the part of the workman other than to see that the oil reservoirs are kept properly filled. As compared to prior constructions which have been dependent upon intermittent lubrication, manually applied, the saving in power alone is a material item. While the invention is useful with drawing rolls of the usual types, it is especially valuable in satisfying the more exacting requirements of sectional, flexibly connected, lower rolls. As above stated, they require lubrication of friction surfaces not found in the common forms of rolls. Also, the quantity of lubricant supplied to the joints connecting the sections must be controlled with a high degree of accuracy in order to prevent oil working out of the bearings on to the roving or sliver. Thus the bearing structures of this invention cooperate with these sectional rolls to provide those operating conditions necessary to obtain fully the advantages which such rolls are capable of af-, fording.

I Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. In a spinning frame, the combination of a lower drawing roll comprising a series of sections positioned end to end, roll stands spaced along said roll and supporting it at the ends of said sections, joints flexibly connecting said sections at said stands and adapted to transmit torque from one section to the next while accommodating misalignment of adjoining sections, an oil reservoir in each stand, and means including porous metal bushings for conducting oil by capillarity from said reservoir to parts of said joints and to the journal members of said sections.

2. In a spinning frame, the combination of a lower drawing roll comprising a series of sections positioned end to end, joints releasably and flexibly connecting said sections, roll stands supporting said roll at the joined ends of said sections, open-topped porous metal bushings fitting into sockets in said stands and supporting the journal portions of said sections, each of said stands having an oil well therein, and means for feeding oil from said well to portions of said bushings, the bushings being constructed to prevent the direct flow of said oil to the journal surfaces but transmitting oil thereto by capillarity.

3. In a spinning frame, the combination of a roll stand, a lower drawing roll comprising two sections, the opposite ends of which are mounted in said stand in end to end relationship, a joint structure flexibly connecting said ends and adapted to transmit torque from one section to the other, a porous metal bushing in said stand supporting the journals of said roll sections at opposite sides of said joint, said bushing being shaped to receive said joint, said stand having an oil well therein below said bushing, and means for conducting oil from said well to the lower part of the bushing where it will be transmitted by the bushing to said journals and said joint.

4. In a spinning frame, the combination of a roll stand, a lower drawing roll comprising two sections, the opposite ends of which are mounted in said stand in end to end relationship, a joint structure flexibly connecting said ends and serving to transmit torque from one section to the other, a porous metal bushing in said stand, said bushing having two bearing surfaces spaced apart axially of the roll and supporting the journal portions of said roll sections, said bushing also having a recess between said bearing surfaces to receive said joint, and an oil reservoir in said stand below said bushing, the bushing having a portion located between its bearing sections and projecting downwardly into said well.

5. In a spinning frame, the combination of a roll stand, a series of lower drawing rolls, each of said rolls being composed of sections arranged end to end, open-topped porous bearing bushings removably mounted in said stand and supporting sections of the respective rolls, the end portions of two adjoining sections being mounted in each bearing, joints located in the respective bushings connecting the ends of adjoining roll sections for the transmission of torque from one section to the next, an oil well in said stand below said bearings, means for conducting oil from said well to the respective bearing bushings, and a cap for said stand fitting around the journal portions of said roll sections and against the intervening upper surfaces of the roll stand where it protects said bearing surfaces and said joint, said cover being so limited in vertical dimensions as not to interfere with the upper rolls which bear on, and cooperate with, said lower rolls.

6. In a spinning frame, the combination of a lower drawing roll comprising a series of sections positioned end to end, roll stands spaced along said roll and supporting it at the ends of said sections, joints flexibly connecting said sections as said stands and adapted to transmit torque from one section to the next while accommodating misalignment of adjoining sections, each of said joints including disk-like heads on the adjacent ends of said sections and a key connecting them in torque transmitting relationship, the key having radial tongue and groove connections with both of said heads and such connection with one being disposed at right angles to that with the other, porous metal bushings positioned removably in sockets provided in said stands and supporting the ends of the roll sections connected by the respective joints, each of said stands having an oil well therein, and said bushings in the respective stands being mounted in cooperative relationship to the wells therein.

RALPH E. NORTHWAY. 

